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HEROES cheerleader actress Hayden Panettiere has no super powers here.
Instead she has to fall back on her acting skills in a quirky rom-com about American Asian culture alienation.
Struggling actor Liam (Ken Leung) hops from one bed to the next, forging his most meaningful relationship with 16-year-old neighbour Adelaide (Hayden).
When his grandmother dies, he inherits her home in Shanghai and travels to China where he becomes infatuated with the sophisticated Micki (Kelly Hu), which leads him on a journey of self-discovery.
NEW YORK — When Katherine Heigl opens her mouth, people listen. They don't always like what they hear.
If the media loves a celebrity lightning rod, then Heigl certainly delivers the goods. The Emmy-winning actress has taken heat for her blunt public comments and doesn't seem to give two winks.
According to her detractors, the Grey's Anatomy star's outre behavior includes: demanding a higher salary in contract negotiations with ABC; slamming the megahit comedy Knocked Up, in which she starred with Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd, as ”a little sexist“ in painting women as ”humorless and uptight“ and men as ”lovable, goofy“; and recently, refusing to seek an Emmy nomination because Grey's writers failed to deliver the goods for an awards-worthy performance.
At times, Heigl comes off like a reality-show contestant who says, ”I'm not here to make friends. I'm here to win.“ That attitude, as any avid viewer of shows from Survivor to The Bachelor would agree, wins few allies on the island (or in the mansion), but it sure makes for good TV.
But in a world of bland, media-trained celebs, is it such a bad thing to speak your mind?
After all, celebrities have spouted off for years, bashing presidents, fellow actors and directors. But Hollywood is like high school — only meaner — and hammering the popular kids might have consequences that take years to undo.
The news is that English rose Kate Winslet is already being wooed by the world's top fashion designers, so strong is the buzz about her finally winning an Oscar at next year's ceremony. It's no major surprise -- if there's any justice in Hollywood, she will surely get a gold statuette.
The 33-year-old Titanic star has already received five Oscar nominations. And having walked away empty-handed the same number of times, there is a feeling that the next Oscar ceremony will definitely belong to Kate. She is expected to be nominated for both The Reader and Revolutionary Road, both of which are out in December.
Radiant Kate wore a pale green, one-shouldered Valentino gown, set off by Chopard yellow diamonds and an 18-karat gold Bulgari clutch bag when she last walked the red carpet at the Oscar ceremony. Sadly, she lost out in 2007 to Helen Mirren for her role in The Queen.
Yet earning her fifth Oscar nomination, for Little Children, at the age of 31, meant that Kate became the youngest actress ever to garner five nominations.
After proving herself as an actor and an anchor on the small screen, Mandira Bedi is now all set to shake a leg for Star Plus's special Independence Day show.
"This will be the first time I will be dancing on the small screen and I'm pretty excited about it," Mandira said on the sidelines of an event organised by Timex watches.
"I'm not a good dancer but I'm giving it a shot. I'm hopeful that my fans will like my dancing act," she added.
Not many people know that Mandira has done an item number for Tamil movie Manmadhan in 2004. Her dancing skills were also seen in the 1995 blockbuster Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge in the song Mehndi laga ke rakhna where she matched steps with Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol.
So now what about doing an item number for Bollywood?
Mandira says she is open to the idea but is waiting for the right offer. "A peppy song and a good banner will make a perfect combination," Mandira said.
The actress, who was last seen on the big screen in Sanjay Gupta's Dus Kahaniyaan, is now all geared up for Pritish Nandy's Meerabai Not Out—a cricket-centric film in which India's test captain Anil Kumble plays a cameo.
The cricket crazy actress essays the lead role in the film. Her association with cricket started when she hosted Extraa Innings during the World Cup tournament in 2003 and 2007 and became known more for her noodle-strapped blouses.
Talking about her role, Mandira said: "In this movie, I eat, drink and sleep cricket. It is all about cricket fans and their love for sport heroes. And this is the first time [Anil] Kumble will appear on screen. It will be a treat to see him acting on the silver screen."
The actress, who made an everlasting impression with her with long-running soap Shanti on Doordarshan, is not interested in doing any more serials.
"Shanti was a dream debut for me. It was a long series but not a stretched soap drama that we have nowadays. It is so boring for me to be a part of these never ending dramas," said Mandira, who featured in a negative role in Ekta Kapoor's Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thhi.
Achint Kaur is now essaying the character.
Mandira is mostly anchoring reality shows now. Recently she finished hosting music show Jo Jeeta Wohi Superstar and has now replaced Bhojpuri actor Ravi Kishen as the anchor of Zee TV's reality show Ek Se Badkar Ek.
THE original X-Files series, which starred David Duchovny as porn-loving, paranormal-obsessed FBI agent Fox "Spooky" Mulder and Gillian Anderson as qualified medical doctor and Mulder's partner, Dana Scully, lasted from 1993 to 2002.